Shanghai Shadowing

Volunteering in China

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Howe Qiu wearing a lab coat

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Over winter break, Howe Qiu (Biology, 2015) went to China to
visit family. While he was there, he also shadowed doctors in Chinese
hospitals, learning about medicine, different health care systems, and death.
Howe spent most of his time visiting patients that had no visitors in Xu Hui
Central Hospital.

“Some of them had chronic illnesses,” he said. “They’ve been
there over a year so there are less family member visits.”

Howe also took a six hour train to Wuhan for a one week
adventure. He shadowed and lived with a gastro-intestinal surgeon. While his
trip to China mostly involved visiting family and volunteering, Howe also dealt
with unfamiliar situations.

“I learned lots of things from books, but also lots of
things from the experience there. I visited a lot of people near death and had
to talk with people I was uncomfortable with.”